- What: Music Trade Show and Convention NXNE
- Where: Toronto, Canada
- When: Annually, second weekend in June
- Cost of Attendance: Varies, depending on when you purchase your pass and how many days you want to attend. More info can be found on the website
Much like SXSW (which was the inspiration for this event), NXNE has three components:
- Daily panel discussions and interviews with people from all aspects of the music industry, debating issues, answering questions and offering advice.
- A film festival (although unlike SXSW, all of the films shown at NXNE are music related)
- A series of shows in venues throughout the cities, featuring both showcases of up and coming bands and big name artists performing in smaller venues than normal. Both NXNE registered attendees and music fans attend these shows. In 2008, 500 different acts performed at NXNE.
Since it's inception in 1996, attendance has grown steadily, and now people in the music industry from all over the world head to Toronto for the festival. Bands, labels, promoters, managers, distributors and more - all sectors of the music industry are present at NXNE.
In terms of music genres represented at North by Northeast, there are no rules. Everything from indie rock to hip hop to reggae to Bluegrass can be found in the NXNE venues.
NXNE is a great festival for independent music. It is more affordable than SXSW, and for up and coming acts, it is more accessible. There's tons of potential to learn a lot and make good connections, plus they always have a great line up of artists, so it can be a lot of fun. Of course, like all music industry trade shows, you should be sure you're in a position to take advantage of what they have to offer - for instance, if you're a label, make sure you'll have some releases to promote and so on. If there is room in the budget, however, NXNE is a good choice for indie music businesses and artists.
